1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is directed generally to aircraft landing gear, and more particularly, to side articulating main landing gear for a helicopter, which is adapted to minimize lateral tire scuffing during shock strut stroking and configured to stow vertically into the landing gear bay of the aircraft upon retraction.
2. Background of the Related Art
Helicopter main landing gears are frequently designed to remain in a fixed or landing position throughout flight, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,691,496 to Katzenberger and U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,048 to Hartel. Side articulating main landing gear have also been developed for helicopters, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,361 to Hrusch. Those skilled in the art have also appreciated the need to eliminate or at least minimize lateral side scuffing of the tires on main landing gears of helicopters, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,437 to Jensen et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,547 to Paxhia et al.
Oftentimes, the size and capacity of the landing gear bay of a helicopter is constrained by features such as the airframe structure, the location of the cockpit, the size of the crew cabin and the location of the hydraulics/electronics bay. Consequently, the volume of available space often dictates the type of kinematic mechanism that is used to articulate the landing gear from a retracted or stowed position to an extended or deployed position.
It would be beneficial to provide landing gear assembly for a helicopter that has a relatively narrow and nearly vertical landing gear bay, and which is also adapted to minimize or otherwise eliminate lateral tire scrubbing during gear stroking, while absorbing relatively high energy levels and a large vertical tire displacement upon landing.